Anne-Marie Jennings
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 06/98) - The Metis Nation of the NWT has been asked to rescue Yellowknife Metis Local 77 in the wake of serious financial problems with NWT 984262, the numbered company established by the local.

Metis Nation president Gary Bohnet said Thursday that members of the local had asked for assistance in the orderly wind-up of the corporation.

"On the evening of Oct. 20, I attended a meeting of the local," Bohnet said. "While they did not have quorum, they used the meeting as an information session.

"It was brought to the attention of the membership that there were some serious problems with regard to their financial situation."

While there are no official numbers available, pending an audit of the local, Bohnet said the estimated loss has reached $308,000. He added that the Metis Nation will not be taking any responsibility for the repayment of debts incurred by Local 77.

"We have not had an opportunity to review any of the financial documents as of today and we've instructed our legal counsel to take a look so we can have a clear picture of the situation," he said.

But for members of Local 77, the events of the past year still remain a mystery.

"At our meeting on Oct. 20, we were told our corporation was in the red $308,000," said Marilyn Pike, a founding member of Local 77. "We don't know how the money was spent or where the money was spent."

The genesis for Metis Local 77 came in August 1997, when a group of individuals felt they were not being fairly represented by the members of the board of directors of Metis Local 66.

Pike added that some compromises were made at the first meeting in order to allow for forward progress.

"There were a number of people in attendance who were non-indigenous Metis and, in order to vote for the election of a president according to the constitution, you had to be indigenous Metis," she explained.

Pike said the non-indigenous Metis at the meeting were allowed to vote based upon the guarantee that another AGM would be held soon afterwards. To date, Pike said no official AGM for Metis Local 77 has been held.

"We tried to get some information, but we didn't get anywhere. When a few members attended a board meeting, we asked them what was going on. We were told that the board was looking at a number of business investments."

Pike said the future of the local is still up in the air. The office doors have been locked and there is no one working for Local 77 at the present time.

Bohnet said while there has not been any clear decision made as to the future of Metis Local 77, changes to the current constitution and bylaws of the Metis Nation will soon make the existence of two locals within the same region a thing of the past.

For Pike and the other members of Local 77, the recent rash of problems will only serve to reflect poorly on the entire Metis Nation.

"We were the new local and to say our reputation has been damaged would be an understatement."